Warranties, Recalls and the Moss Act

Warranties

Audi defines warranty as “a guarantee that the manufacturer will replace any component that fails as a result of manufacturer’s defect in material or workmanship”.

With a new car you get a few different warranties:

The New Vehicle Limited Warranty covers manufacturers defects in materials or workmanship.

*Typically they are covered up to 12 months or 12,000 miles. Extended warranties can be purchased if it the owners wants.

Limited Warranty Against Corrosion Perforation:

Covers any repair or replacement to correct a defect in manufacturer’s materials and workmanship that will result in rust perforation of the vehicle body.

Recalls

Recalls are conducted for safety, compliance and emissions-related defects. Recall eligibility never expires. The manufacturer will cover the cost of parts and labor to perform the recall until it is has been completed.

All recalls and reported and monitored by government agencies such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or the Environmental Protection Agency.

Magnuson-Moss Act

The purpose of this act is so the manufacturer cannot void your warranty for using aftermarket parts and service without proving it the cause of the failure.

This does not apply to modifications made to the vehicle, it applies to direct replacement and maintenance parts.

For example:

If the dealership tries to tell you your warranty is voided because you got you changed your oil yourself or took it to a Jiffy Lube, the Magnuson-Moss Act would protect you against that and they would have to prove that the aftermarket oil change caused the failure to fail in order to void your warranty.

What is a TD1 code?

Starting in 2004 with Audi, the manufacturer automatically checks the ECM of your car in order to log data. It is REQUIRED and done automatically by the manufacturer to log data for warranty service claims relating to engine, transmission, or electrical related claims. If the system finds that you ECM has been changed in anyway it will automatically log a TD1 code for your car. If your car has been tuned, flash and even returned back to stock you have the possibility of being flagged for TD1. Audi has been notoriously strict with this process.

How a VIN number gets flagged with a TD1 code?

Anytime you run a GFF or you perform an SVM (software) update the scan tool records all sorts of hidden data and sends it back to the manufacturer. That’s how a VIN gets

Flagged with TD1, it has nothing to do with a dealership; they cannot manually flag a car.

If your car gets flagged then the manufacturer can deny warranty for specific items that would be affected by the ECU tune (engine, transmission,etc) . Most dealers will still cover things not related to those parts.